The present invention relates, in general, to the field of laser rangefinders and rangefinding instruments. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for a rangefinding instrument incorporating pulse and continuous wave signal generating and processing techniques for increased distance measurement accuracy.
Numerous types of ranging devices have been introduced for measuring distances in situations in which traditional tape measures have previously been employed. For such applications, compact design and cost considerations are important factors in addition to ease of use and overall device accuracy.
Certain of these designs are pulse-based laser systems which utilize a time-of-flight measurement technique to compute the distance to a particular target based on the time it takes for a transmitted pulse to reach the target and be reflected back therefrom. Among the disadvantages of such pulse-based devices is that, in order to achieve high levels of accuracy, rather complicated timing circuitry is required in addition to ensuring that the device remains properly calibrated for the then current operating conditions. Representative circuitry and associated signal processing techniques for such a pulse-based laser rangefinder are disclosed, for example, in the following United States Patents assigned to Laser Technology, Inc., assignee of the present invention: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,574,552; 5,612,779; 5,652,651; 5,703,678; 5,880,821; 6,057,910; 6,226,077 and 6,445,444. The disclosures of these patents are herein specifically incorporated by this reference in their entirety.
An alternative technique for measuring distances employs phase-based techniques in which a continuous wave (CW) or discreet bursts of essentially continuous waves signals are directed toward a target and the phase of the backscatter signal that is reflected back therefrom is determined. Among the advantages of such CW systems is that, for similar or lower costs than a pulse-based system, it is possible to achieve potentially higher accuracy with simpler electronics due, at least in part, to the fact that the small CW diodes will turn “on” and “off” more quickly than the larger infrared (IR) pulse diodes used in pulse-based systems.
However, among the difficulties inherent in implementations of such phase-based systems is that the unambiguous range of the instrument is the period of the CW signal divided by two. In other words, assuming a 50 MHz signal which has a cycle time of 20 nsec., a flight distance of about 10 feet is covered so it is not possible to discriminate based on that information alone whether the target is at 10 feet, 20 feet, 30 feet or the like. Known techniques for dealing with this ambiguity include generating and transmitting multiple frequencies or dividing down the device clock frequency to produce varying transmission frequencies. All of these solutions require ever more complicated circuitry and the problem they attempt to solve becomes increasingly more difficult to address as the distance from the target increases.
A comparison of pulse-based systems with phase-based systems shows that the former can effectively distinguish between dust or other debris or interference between the signal source and the intended target. In other words, a pulse-based system can distinguish between multiple targets. On the other hand, in phase-based systems the phase return is the vector sum of the backscatter from the target and the interfering dust or other object and there is no easy way of discriminating between the two.
Therefore, a need exists for a compact, low cost rangefinding instrument which is inexpensive, reliable and highly accurate and would essentially provide the benefits of both pulse-based and phase-based ranging systems while compensating for, or overcoming, the inherent disadvantages of the other.